Sheep, proofs, greengage

Approximately-weekly news, #68

It is October, and I have a thousand cookery books*, but if you told me that every evening meal between now and 1 November would be sausages and mash followed by warm apple crumble with custard, I would not complain. In fact, I would be delighted. My friend Lou used to say that all that supermarkets need to do to guarantee eternal success, would be this: have a friendly-looking person standing at the entrance, who you could approach and ask them what you should make for dinner, and they would tell you. I’ve always thought there was something in that.

Anyway! I had a vegan in the house this weekend, so I made this. It looks a bit dull but it’s served with coconut caramel:

The recipe is from this book, and it’s honestly so easy. Basically: mix wet things into dry things. Oddly, the mix contains some sparkling water; I’m assuming that the little air bubbles give something for the raising agents to work with. Anyway! The non-vegans all agreed it was delicious: moist and chocolatey**.

And finally, in the Random Food Section of my news: BMB bought me a mug that has a sheep in it. When you drink the tea the sheep appears, and it has such a blissful expression on its face that I laugh every. single. time. I use it. Which is often.

(I do have to remember to hold the mug in my right hand when I drink from it, because having a semi-submerged sheep emerge with its back to you feels needlessly aggressive.***)

If you think you’d like one of these mugs (and believe me, you would, it’s the most cheering thing you can do for yourself) - look here. Dogs and cows are also available.

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In THE SECOND CHANCE BOOK CLUB news - it’s on offer on Audible for all of October. £3.99!! And Hannah Wood does an amazing job of narrating it.

And in other book news, I’ve seen the almost-final cover for next year’s book and it is GLORIOUS. My agent and I agree that it might be our favourite yet. I cannot WAIT to share it with you.

I’ve also got the page proofs of that book (details soon, I promise), which are my almost-last chance to make any tweaks and spot any typos, inconsistencies, and crater-like plot holes. Objectively, I know that reading it again isn’t a problem, and that it is All Fine. My editor can spot a plot issue through fifteen miles of fog, my copy-editor and proofreader are brilliant at their jobs. It’s only a few weeks since I crawled through the manuscript line by line, and also got my computer to read it to me. But still, I get really worried about reading page proofs. I somehow cast myself as both the small child *and* the naked monarch in the story of the Emperor’s new clothes. As I said to some friends when talking about this this morning, I will be brave, and read them, next week. My friend immediately suggested that Be Brave Next Week should go on a t-shirt. I’m tempted, except that next week never comes….

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In the news you have all been waiting for, Harris has made no attempts**** on the former holes in the grass. Possibly because he was distracted by visitors, and also met a hedgehog in the garden. Last time he encountered a hedgehog, he tried to eat it; this time, he didn’t*****. This may be Learning From Experience, but I suspect it’s more to do with this hedgehog being much bigger than a mouthful.

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I have been having a funny old time with reading lately. I read a novel that I almost loved, and another that made me sad because everyone in it was horrible, and another that was probably fine but I’d adored the novelist’s previous work so much that I was disproportionately disappointed that this one was a bit uneven and a hundred pages too long.

But the thing with reading - like writing - is that if you keep at it, it all comes good in the end.

This, my friends, is utter bliss. I’ve always loved Lissa Evans’ work; and there’s a lightness and humanity to SMALL BOMB AT DIMPERLEY that lifted my heart. It’s poignant and warm, and there is a joke/observation about Juliet Capulet that makes me genuinely laugh out loud every time I think about it. It’s the book equivalent of a sheep in a mug, and I do not say this lightly. Please, treat yourself, or someone you love.

And I have just finished THE GREENGAGE SUMMER by Rumer Godden, which I genuinely thought I had read before. It’s one of those novels that is always on lists, and that people talk about loving, and that I knew enough about - an English family stranded in France, coming-of-age - for my brain to believe that I must have read it at some point.

I hadn’t, because I definitely would have remembered this gorgeous, gorgeous book. There is so much in this story that I absolutely loved, and will never forget. Although I read it like a reader, reflecting on it as a writer I am in awe of all of it: the plotting, the characters, the scene-setting, the world-building. It might just be perfection. Also, where can I get greengages, please? Is greengage jam a thing? I will try it in any form.

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Writing services info is here. I’m booking in manuscripts and edits to February, and have a mentoring slot coming up in November. Take a look and then get in touch for a chat about what you need and how I might be able to support you. Bursaries and payment plans are available.

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Before I go: September sky.

Until next week, my friends, be well.

Stephanie x

*not as much of an exaggeration as you would think.

**Even BMB, who claims to dislike coconut things, thoroughly enjoyed it.

***Just another small indignity inflicted on the left-handed by a right-handed world.

****Yet. We all know it’s ‘yet’.

*****Had a bit of a sniff, then wandered off. Impressively, the hedgehog did not curl up into a ball, but held its prickly little nerve.